Tie rack



Jan. 2, 1968 H. WILLIAMS 3,361,266

TIE RACK Filed March 17, 1966 IN VENTOR ATTORNEYS la er H MAZ/A/WS United States Patent M 3,361,266 TIE RACK Larry H. Williams, 708 Church St.., Saxton, Pa. 16678 Filed Mar. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 535,132 4 Claims. (Cl. 21187) This invention relates to an article supporting rack and more particularly an article supporting rack for clip-on ties and the like.

For several years the popularity and acceptance of clip-on ties of the type having a permanently formed Windsor knot therein have increased. The proper storing of these ties presents a somewhat difficult problem in that if stored in a drawer, like clip-on bow ties, they may become wrinkled. On the other hand, the permanent knot configuration on clip-on ties of this type makes it impractical to store the same on tie racks of the type adapted to receive and support conventional ties which are not permanently knotted. To date, no satisfactory supporting rack for this type of tie is available on the commercial market.

An object of the present invention is the provision of an article supporting rack for clip-on ties of the type described which provides for the simple and effective storage of a maximum number of ties in a minimum of space while at the same time maintaining an optimum access to the rack structure for the purpose of removing ties therefrom and replacing ties thereon.

Another object of the present invention is the provision o of an article supporting rack of the type described which serves to support a plurality of clip-on ties or the like in such a Way that each individual tie is readily visible and may be easily removed without disturbing the support of the remaining ties.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of an article supporting rack for clip-on ties or the like which is of simple and economical construction and efficient in operation.

These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent during the course of the following detailed description and appended claims.

The invention may best be understood with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein an illustrative embodiment is shown.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of an article supporting rack embodying the principles of the present invention, showing the same with three clip-on ties supported thereon; and

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the article supporting rack shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown therein an article supporting rack, generally indicated, at 14 embodying the principles of the present invention. The rack Ill is particularly adapted to support a plurality of clip-on ties, three of which are illustrated in the drawings and indicated generally by the numeral 12 to show the manner in which a maximum amount of ties are supported on the rack in a minimum space while maintaining proper vision of each individual tie and convenient ingress and egress of each individual tie to and from the supporting rack 10.

The article supporting rack includes, in general, a base 14 and a pair of elongated continuous article supporting strips 16 and 18 mounted on the base in vertically spaced relation. The base may be of any desirable construction and, as shown, is preferably made up of a rectangular member elongated in the horizontal direction and providing an outer planar surface disposed vertically. It will be understood that the vertically extending outer 3,361,266 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 surface of the base may be horizontally arcuate or may be completely circular or of other desired configuration, the flat planar base illustrated being preferred.

Preferably, the pair of article supporting strips 16 and 18 are of identical construction for the sake of economy in fabrication. Consequently, a description of one will be sufiicient to impart an understanding of the construction of both. Preferably, each strip 16 and 18 is of elongated rectangular configuration in cross section. While any suitable material may be used, it is preferable to use steel.

Each strip is bent at a series of regular intervals to provide a series of horizontally extending article supporting sections 20, and a series of interconnecting sections 22. As shown, the sections 20 and 22 are straight, although it will be understood a certain amount of curvature may be provided where desired. Each article supporting section 26 includes an inner end 24 adapted to engage the vertical planar surface of the base 14 and an outer end 26, each interconnecting section having its outer and inner ends integrally connected with the outer end 26 and inner end 24 of each pair of adjacent article supporting sections 26. In this way, each article supporting section 20 extends outwardly from the outer vertically extending surface of the base 14 at an angle which preferably is of the order of The interconnecting sections 22 associated with the outer end 26 of each article supporting section 2% is disposed generally perpendicular to the vertical plane of the base and defines an angle with the associated article supporting section 20 of or slightly thereover.

Each strip is secured to the base by any suitable means. For example, as shown, each strip is formed so that there is included at each end an attaching section 28 parallel to the vertical surface of the base 14 and adapted to be secured in abutting relation thereto as by fastening element 30 or the like. The strip, between the attaching sections 28, may be secured to the base by engaging staples 32 or the like through the ends 24 of the article supporting sections 20. Other means for attaching the strips to the base may be utilized depending upon the material utilized in the strips as well as the base. For example, it would be possible to strike out of the interconnecting portions adjacent the ends 24 tangs which could be bent in a direction to engage within the base 14.

A most important feature of the rack structure of the present invention is the manner in which two strips formed into identical configurations in the manner set forth above, are interrelated with respect to each other in vertically spaced relation on the base so as to provide for the support of a maximum number of ties within a given amount of space commensurate with adequate visual presentation of each tie and ease of ingress and egress of each individual tie to and from the rack structure. To this end, the upper strip 16 is mounted in vertically spaced relation to the lower strip 18 in horizontally inverted relation. That is, the article supporting sections 20 of the upper strip face generally in a direction opposed to the direction in which the article supporting sections 20 of the lower strip 18 face. Moreover, the strips are mounted in horizontal overlapping registry with respect to each other so that an outer end portion of each article supporting section 20 of the upper strip 16 overlies a corresponding outer end portion of the article sspporting sections 24 of the lower strip 18, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 2.

With this construction, as can be seen from the drawings, a plurality of clip-on ties, of any commercially available design, may be readily supported on the article supporting sections 20 of the upper strip 16 simply by engaging the hook of the tie thereover. In the drawings there is shown two such ties supported on adjacent sections 20 of the upper strip and it will be noted that the panels of the ties extending below the knot will lie at an angle with respect to the vertical surface of the base and will engage between the outer end 26 of the article supporting section 2&3 therebeneath and the inner end portion of the adjacent section. Thus, when two ties are supported from any two adjacent upper article supporting sections 20, there will be adequate access space as well as visual space within which to support another tie on the article supporting section 24B of the lower strip disposed therebelow, as is clearly shown in the drawings. While there is a slight overlap, in general, the overlap is in dillerent angular planes due to the opposite disposition of the article supporting sections 20 of the upper strip with respect to the lower strip. Consequently, with the arrangement of the present invention it is possible to support a maximum number of ties within a given space while at the same time providing for proper visualization of each tie and convenient access to each tie. These optimum conditions are achieved by a construction embodying basically only three main parts, two of which are of identical construction and all of which can be economically fabricated and easily assembled to form a unitary structure.

It thus will be seen that the objects of this invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that the foregoing specific embodiment has been shown and described only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of this invention and is subject to extensive change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

It is claimed:

1. An article supporting rack for clip-on ties and the like comprising a base providing a vertically extending outer surface and a pair of elongated continuous supporting strips secured to said base in engagement with said outer surface in vertically spaced overlying relation with respect to each other, each of said strips being formed with a series of spaced article supporting sections each of which extends outwardly from said base with an inner end thereof disposed adjacent said base and an outer end thereof disposed in spaced relation to said base and an interconnecting section extending between the inner and outer ends respectively of each pair of adjacent article supporting sections, the article supporting sections of the upper strip being positioned to face in a direction generally opposed to the article supporting sections of the strip therebelow, the outer end portion of each article supporting section of said upper strip overlying the outer end portion of a corresponding article supporting section of the lower strip so that an article supported on an article supporting section of the upper strip and extending downwardly therefrom will lie generally between the inner end portion of the article supporting section and the adjacent interconnecting section of the lower strip disposed therebelow leaving the remaining portion of the article supporting section of the lower strip generally unobstructed to receive and support articles therefrom.

2. An article supporting rack as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said article supporting sections is straight and extends outwardly from said base at an angle of the order of 30.

3. An article supporting rack as defined in claim 2 wherein said base comprises a straight generally rectangular member.

4. An article supporting rack as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said strips is of elongated rectangular configuration in cross section.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 323,631 8/1885 Brenner 2l1-l 429,965 6/1890 Sayers 211-124 2,177,181 10/1939 .ienkins 211-87 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICLE SUPPORTING RACK FOR CLIP-ON TIES AND THE LIKE COMPRISING A BASE PROVIDING A VERTICALLY EXTENDING OUTER SURFACE AND A PAIR OF ELONGATED CONTINUOUS SUPPORTING STRIPS SECURED TO SAID BASE IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID OUTER SURFACE IN VERTICALLY SPACED OVERLYING RELATION WITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER, EACH OF SAID STRIPS BEING FORMED WITH A SERIES OF SPACED ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTIONS EACH OF WHICH EXTENDS OUTWARDLY FROM SAID BASE WITH AN INNER END THEREOF DISPOSED ADJACENT SAID BASE AND AN OUTER END THEREOF DISPOSED IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID BASE AND AN INTERCONNECTING SECTION EXTENDING BETWEEN THE INNER AND OUTER ENDS RESPECTIVELY OF EACH PAIR OF ADJACENT ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTIONS, THE ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTIONS OF THE UPPER STRIP BEING POSITIONED TO FACE IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY OPPOSED TO THE ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTIONS OF THE STRIP THEREBELOW, THE OUTER END PORTION OF EACH ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTION OF SAID UPPER STRIP OVERLYING THE OUTER END PORTION OF A CORRESPONDING ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTION OF THE LOWER STRIP SO THAT AN ARTICLE SUPPORTED TO AN ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTION OF THE UPPER STRIP AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM WILL LIE GENERALLY BETWEEN THE INNER END PORTION OF THE ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTION AND THE ADJACENT INTERCONNECTING SECTION OF THE LOWER STRIP DISPOSED THEREBELOW LEAVING THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE ARTICLE SUPPORTING SECTION OF THE LOWER STRIP GENERALLY UNOBSTRUCTED TO RECEIVE AND SUPPORT ARTICLES THEREFROM. 